Midwives in the north of England have voiced fears over NHS privatisation after Virgin Care begun buying sexual health clinics. The small subsidiary of Virgin has recently started buying up some parts of the NHS, such as some of the sexual health departments in parts of the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole trust.
Some senior midwives have their reservations over what the buying of some of these clinics could mean for the future of the NHS. Carrie Jenkins said: “It’s worrying because it’s privatisation by stealth by the back door.” One of the main fears comes from the lack of announcements from either the NHS or virgin, making it seem to some who do know that there has been some attempt at hiding what has taken place.
Mrs Jenkins went on to say: “Virgin is a profit- driven company, so are only ever trying to make money. This is worrying for the people wanting healthcare from the NHS as if companies are buying parts wanting to make money, then they will have to make it from the people in need.” The main fears emerging from Mrs Jenkins were that companies buying parts of the NHS, could lead to further areas of the healthcare system becoming private, leading to people needing to pay to get care that currently is free.
In response to these worries, the Virgin Care public relations manager, Marion Irving said: “Virgin Care’s services cover far more than clinics. And it is not a case of taking over any services.” This response was seemingly to negate worries from people thinking that they are attempting to privatise the NHS by putting their services in the place of those that are currently available to the public.
Marion went on to state how it is more complicated than people think it is, as the NHS puts out the contracts to run certain services, that are then given to the highest bidder: “Contracts to run services are put out to tender by NHS commissioners and NHS organisations as well as private organisations bid for the contract.”
Virgin Care claim that their services are in place to help the NHS, as with them running certain services, it saves them money that can be used to focus on other areas where more research is required, as opposed to the clinics that can be run by these third-party businesses such as Virgin Care.
Where this will lead is yet to be seen, with many members of the public certain that moves like this will only lead to privatisation of the NHS, despite the good intentions that Virgin Care claim to have.